Conductor for discharging high-voltage electric charges.



No. 878,272. PATENTEDVFEB. 4, 1908.

W. H. CHAPMAN. CONDUCTOR PORDISCHARGING HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTRIC CHARGES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 18, 1906.

gdn i z Uta I WILLIAM H. CHAPMAN, QF PORTLAND, MAINE.

I CONDUCTOR FOR DISCHARGING HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC CHARGES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented Feb. 4, 1908.

Application filed May 18. 1906. Serial No. 817.427.

' MAN, a citizen of the United States of America, and a'resident of Portland, Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Conductors for Discharging High- Voltage Electric Charges, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a conductor for discharging high voltage electricity "into or through the air and it is designed to be used in treating paper, yarn, roving and other material in the process of manufacture or manipulation for removing the static electricity with which such material becomes charged In the practical a plication of my process of removing static e ectricity as set forth in my Patent No. 777,598 and other similar processes, I' make use of a charge of high voltage electricity which is discharged into the air from a series of fine wires terminating in the open air where they are necessarily exposed. If they come into contact with a human body a disagreeableshock is experienced which, while it may not be'dangerous is decidedly annoying and something that owners of mills object to. There is also dangerof fire, particularly in textile mills where masses of cotton are liable to be set on fire by sparks from the terminal wires.

In the case of paper mills, printing presses &c. the discharging conductors may generally be located or protected so that there is little or no danger of operatives coming into contact with the wires, but in textile mills where the-terminal wire must be at a distance from the work and exposed to contact with the persons of the operatives or liable to come in contact with masses of cotton or' other fiber, then the apparatus is liable to become dangerous and annoying.

1 circumstances The object of my present invention is to so construct the ischarging or radiating conductors that they will be ,unable under any to give off a spark or shock that would-be able to produce a fire on any inflammable material or which would be noticeable when touched by a human body.

My invention is founded on the fact that if a section of relatively high resistance material of the right conductivity be introduced into the conductor immediately back of the discharging point where theelectric ions are thrown off into the air,.leaving a short iece of wire or other conductor of small v0 ume on the outside of such resistance material, then no perceptible shock or spark will be produced when an body comes in contact with such point. n the practicable application of this principle I preferably make use of a tube of hard rubber or other insulating material in which is inserted a plug of high resistance material connected at one end with the discharging terminal which may be a fine wire, the other end of the lug being connected with the regular, condbctor through which the high voltage charge is transmitted to one or more of these discharging points. I have found from experience that a small amount of resistance inserted in the line near the discharge point renders the spark more dangerous as regards fire than when there is no obstruction of the current but when the resistance runs up into millions of ohms, then I get the effect aimed at, namely thefull measure of discharge into the open air with the full voltage while reducing the amount of electricity given off when contact is made with a, solid body to so small a quantity that its effect is scarcely perceptible to the touch and produces no dangerous spark. A slight glow is the only noticeable effect and the quantity that might discharge instantaneously is proportionate to the bulk of the wire or conductor which is outside of the resistance section.

In the case of the conductors which I use in practice this discharging section is made up of an inch or so of very fine wire and is consequently inca able of storing but a very small charge. ter the resistance reaches say 1,000,000 or 2,000,000 ohms it becomes efiective and there is a wide range reaching up to 50,000,000 or more Within which it is equally effective when I have 10,000 volts in my conductor. Above this limit the current is reduced too much for the process to be efficient. The resistance plug should be of material which will not readily melt from the small amount of heat developed and it should of course have the proper amount of resistance to come Within the limits above specified. I have found an excellent material for this purpose to be asbestos pa er impregnated with arafiin, rolled into a p ug and inserted into t e hard rubber tube.

The discharging wire is wound around one end with its outer end terminating in the open air and the other end of the plug abuts against a screw or other metal part which isin contact with the main conductor.

' high resistance material.

I illustrate my invention by means of the The inductor is made up of a heavilyinsulated cable e in which is the wire conductor e. Strung along on this cable at suitable intervals there is a series of hard rubber spools or cylinders h having central openings just large enough to' admit the passage of the cable. opening in the under side of. each cylinder admits the screw threaded end of a tube d of suitable insulating material, preferably hard rubber. As here shown, the inner or upper end of this tube d has a comparatively large central bore or opening in which is inserted a plug 9 of suitable high resistance material preferably as above pointed out, of asbestos a er impregnated with paraifin and rolle into a plu At the lower or outer end of the tube t e bore is reduced in screwed into an opening in the cable and.

impinges against t e main conducting wire e. The length of the plug 9 is such that a spark cannot pass from one end to the other around the outside of it and it should not be so long as to make the resistance too great.

Thus a connection is madebetween the conducting wire e and the terminal wire f passing throu h the screw g and the lug g-of g At the eiid of the inductor the cylinder h is closed at one end so that the cable does not extend entirely through it and passing through an o ening the upper side is a vsuita le stu a by which the main wire is connected with the line from which the current is taken.

In order to properly support the cable and its connections so that they may be applied to textile and other machines, I provlde a supporting bar 0 preferably of wood, with .a longitudinal groove in its upper side in which lie the various cylinders h and the parts are secured in place by a casing 6 preferably of fiber or other insulating materialwhich A screw threaded tending therefrom terminating charging points each of said branches having to the machinery in any desired position according to the work to be done. In the case of mule spinning machines the inductor.

is placed 18 inches or more abovethe rolls where they will be out of the way of the operatives who areabout the machines and for printing presses and paper machines they may be placed close to the work. In any event the danger of setting fire or giving unpleasant shocks is entirely obviated by the use of the section of high resistance material .while there is no diminution of the efiectiveness of the electric charge.

It will be understood that there are numerous other forms in which my broad inven tion may be embodied aside from'that here shown which shows the practical form which I have worked out for a special use. t The invention may be applied to a single terminal or to casesas where in my work 1 t is necessary to provide for numerous rad1at1ng points along a single inductor and it may be used for any urpose where it is desired to produce the e ectric ions or to radlate'high voltage electricity into the air.

The section of high resistance materlal while itis shown as near the end of the terminal wire, may be some distance back if the body of the wireis not suilicient to accumulate a dangerous quantity of electricity.

1. A conductor for discharging high voltage electricity into the air, having one or more discharging points, each of which has.

inserted between. it and the source of su ply a section of material having relatively igh resistance which will limit the quantity of electricity of high voltage which wlll pass in an instantaneous discharge. 2. A conductor for discharging high voltage electricity into the air havingone or more fine discharging points, said conductor having a section adjacent to each discharging point composed of material with a relatively igh resistance located between the conductor and the discharging oint which will allow a limited quantity of e ectricity of high voltage to pass in an instantaneous discharge. 3. In a conductor for discharging high voltage electricityinto the air, the combination of a main conductor andbranches exin fine disa section composed of material with a relatively high resistance which will allow a limited quantity of electricity of high voltage to passin an instantaneous discharge.

4. In a .conductor for discharging high voltage electricity into 'thewair, the combination of an insulated or protected main conductor, one or more tubes of insulating material secured to andlextending laterally of hi h,

from said main conductor, a plu reslstance material in sa d tube e ectrlcal y connected atits mner end with said main conductor and a fine discharging wire'connet-ted to the outer end of said terminating in the open air.

5/ In a ('ondut'tnl for diseharging high voltage electricity into the air. the combina tion ol an insulated main ('otldtlctm' or cable, a cylinder through which said eahle passes' having a screw threaded opening in the side. thereof, a tube of insulating material having a threaded end adapted to engage said threaded opening, a plug of high resistance material in said tube electrically connected by its inner end with the main conductor and a line discharging wire connected with the outer end of said plug and terminating in the air.

ii. In a conductor for discharging high voltage electricity into the air, the combination of an insulated main conductor or cable,

plug and WILLIAM II. (,IIAPMAN.

Witnesses:

S. W. BATES, MARY A. DONALDSON. 

